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Not far from the temple of Hadrian,
his son Commodus dedicated a temple to Markus Aurelius.
To this complex belonged also the column of Markus Aurelius
which stands today in the middle of Piazza Colonna.
Erected in 180 AD, year of the death of Markus Aurelius,
in honour of the emperor. It was modelled on Trajan's
column in the Forum of Trajan. The column stood on a
high base, part of which is still underground, at its
summit was the bronze statue of the emperor.
The pillar - 30 meters high - consists
of 28 drums of Carrara marble 3,70mt in diameter. As
in Trajan's column, the spiral relieves, that entirely
cover it, describe the military life of the emperor.
Their details reveal 116 episodes separated in two parts
by an allegorical figure of Victory among trophies,
in the inferior part is represented the war against
the Marcoman in the upper part against the Sarmatian
tribes.
The style of the relieves show a tendency
to simplification compared to the Hellenistic tradition,
the figures tend to detach from the background and anticipate
the expressionistic style of the following centuries.
The figure of Markus Aurelius is almost always represented
frontally in order to underline the majesty of the emperor.
A 190-step interior spiral staircase illuminated by
56 little windows, leads to the summit, where the statue
in bronze of St. Paul replaced that of Aurelius.
In the Middle Ages the column belonged
to the monastery of S.Silvestro in Capite that received
alms from the pilgrims who wished to climb to the top.
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